Justin Woodford announced his candidacy Tuesday for HD-73, where Del. Mark Earley, R-Chesterfield, is the incumbent. This sets up a primary race between Woodford and Leslie Mehta, who announced her campaign last month.
“I decided to run because I’m getting pretty sick and tired of the corporate and billionaire takeover of our government that we’re witnessing right now,” Woodford said in an interview Wednesday. “It’s my opinion that we need strong and bold leadership that’s pretty courageous in our stances right now and our vision for the country, but more importantly, for Virginia.”
Woodford is an advisory consultant for a finance and accounting firm. He moved to Chesterfield when he was in middle school and has two daughters with his wife.
“In my vision,” he continued, “Virginia is going to serve as a role model and a leader when it comes to issues like getting corporate money out of politics, raising the minimum wage to a living wage, so that no one working 40 hours a week lives in poverty or under are at the poverty line, guaranteeing that healthcare is a human right through universal healthcare, and removing the profit motive from people’s health outcomes.”
Woodford wants to strengthen unions so that workers can have more leverage with collective bargaining, raise salaries for nurses and teachers, and increase investments in renewable energy.
“It is just going to take us electing courageous representatives who are passionate about it,” he said.
Former VA-01 Democratic candidate Leslie Mehta has already announced her campaign for the Democratic nomination. She was endorsed by the likely Democratic gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger.
Woodford believes he is the best Democrat to face Earley because he is “unbought.”
“I’m not taking any corporate money. I believe everything I’m saying. I’m the only one to have my entire policy platform up, I’ve got nothing to hide.”
Earley was elected by nine points in 2023 after raising 24 times the amount of money that his Democratic opponent raised.
He is the son of former Virginia Attorney General Mark Early Sr., who served from 1998 to 2001 and resigned in 2001 to run for governor, eventually losing to the Democratic nominee, Mark Warner.
Analysis from VPAP shows that Kamala Harris beat Donald Trump by .6% of a point in November.
Democrats will elect their nominee in June.